If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Chicago Sun: It'll be a shame to break their little hearts.

January 24, 2007
BY MARK BROWN Sun-Times Columnist
The impulse is to poke fun at our Midwest neighbors down the road in Indianapolis now that we are to be adversaries in the Super Bowl.

But to be honest, I think they have a fine little town and a most formidable football team, and I don't have any interest in picking a fight with them.

You won't catch me writing about Indy No Place or telling Hoosier jokes.

I mean, after all, we're going to need them to buy tickets to our Olympics in a few years, what with Indianapolis fans taking their amateur sports very seriously, as you would expect from a small town without a Major League Baseball franchise and no professional sports championships whatsoever of which to speak.

So I certainly wouldn't want there to be any hard feelings left over from some football game -- especially not after the way they still carry a grudge over losing that NBA Eastern Conference final where Michael Jordan broke their hearts, continuing to blame their own failure on the alleged NBA-NBC officiating conspiracy.

Despite that, I've always said it's really a credit to the people of Indianapolis and the surrounding environs that such a teensy-weensy place can even support a National Football League franchise.

I see no need to dwell, therefore, on the fact it took a conniving Chicago businessman whose own mother described him as "a devil on Earth" to bring that NFL franchise to Indianapolis in the first place, or to dredge up that whole business about the owner literally moving the Colts out of Baltimore in the dead of the night.

That's ancient history, March 28, 1984, which even predates the Super Bowl Shuffle.

I don't know about you, but I was rooting Sunday for the Colts to beat the Patriots and for Peyton Manning to lead the big comeback. Who doesn't like Manning, not only a great passer but the best football pitchman since Mike Ditka and nearly as over-exposed, although he would seem to be many years away from touting his own erectile dysfunction drug.

Ooey-Pooey
Manning seems like such a nice, ordinary guy with a great sense of humor in all those commercials. You have to admire his willingness to poke fun at himself in his ads, but I couldn't bear the thought of him having to do some commercial in the future that would play off the theme of him choking in the big game.

Just the same, I think the win over the Patriots gives him another year or two leeway before he actually needs to win a Super Bowl, don't you?

Just this past summer, I made my first visit to Indianapolis to take my kid to a swim meet on the campus of IUPUI, which the locals refer to as Ooey-Pooey -- a peculiar name for an institution of higher learning.

My stay was very pleasant. Downtown Indianapolis isn't an exciting place, by any means, but you can definitely be entertained for a weekend, as long as you get to bed early. I even found a decent pizza joint -- by Naperville standards -- one night.

You can get there from here -- sort of
While the signs in the downtown storefront windows would suggest that Bail Bondsman is the most thriving occupation in the central city, my son and his friends told me they also found a nice shopping mall.

I rented a bicycle and checked out a nifty bike path along the White River, which cuts through downtown Indianapolis. It doesn't really compare to riding a bike along Lake Michigan, but it's not as crowded either.

You can also ride along what they call the Historic Canal Walk, a cute if peculiar body of water. While the historic purpose of the canal remains unclear to me, its modern purpose is to soak up millions of dollars in federal funds and in the process anchor a downtown real estate revival. It would appear to be doing nicely on both counts.

The canal might have made more sense to me if it connected Indianapolis to some place important -- say Chicago or even Cincinnati. But it just kind of peters out, which, come to think of it, is what always seems to happen with Indiana's pro sports teams.

I've always thought it was noteworthy, too, that there is no single interstate highway connecting Chicago to Indy, although, obviously the connections are quite simple.

I suspected that was because our government leaders in Chicago didn't see any point in getting to Indianapolis in a hurry except to see the Indianapolis 500, while Indiana folks were afraid to make it too easy for some of our residents to visit, perhaps worried we'd send down our football team before they were ready.

Now they're as ready as they're ever going to be. It'll be a shame to break their little hearts.

Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

------

"A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

Re: Chicago Sun: It'll be a shame to break their little hearts.

Actually, Benner's response was to the Chicago Tribune. So let's take a look at that (Chicago Tribune) one too!

Indianapolis vs. Chicago

Published January 23, 2007

Time now to compare and contrast two great Midwestern cities that will be sending their football teams to Miami to decide who is the best in the Super Bowl.

Let's see, Chicago has just about everything a normal, healthy human being could want, from fabulous restaurants to wonderful entertainment to a vibrant ethnic culture to art so lovely it would make a real French person weep.

It has a persistent mayor, alleys that are better-lighted and cleaner than the streets of many cities, a long stretch of Lake Michigan beachfront that acts as an air conditioner in the boiling middle of summer and as a warming force in winter.

It has deep-dish pizza, Polish sausage, bridges that go up and a vastly busy airport.

And of course, the Bears.

And Indianapolis has ... hmmmm.

Pie?

OK. That's not fair. Although, to be sure, there is whopping great pie of all kinds in Indiana.

Indianapolis is undoubtedly a utopia in its own eyes, as every hometown is. Of course, it has a racetrack that is the focus of the nation-on-wheels once a year, a race car fantasyland. It has a symphony. Churches. Highways that let you zip by without even looking at downtown.

It has the Colts.

In the spirit of regional friendship, we think this comparison should stop right here, because from our shiny bean at Millennium Park to our big buildings, our pizza to die for, our baseball teams, our mass transit and our style of serving up hot dogs, nothing quite compares.

We will see who is better at football in a couple of short weeks in Miami.

As for comparing cities, if you are in Indianapolis, where do you go to sample Big City life?

Do you go to Dayton?

No.

Do you go to St. Louis?

No.

Do you take the trek to New York?

No.

You know where you go.

Right here to Sweet Home.

When it's all over, we'll keep a light on for you and a hot deep-dish pizza in the oven because, win or lose, you're always welcome and there is no place we would rather be.

Re: Chicago Sun: It'll be a shame to break their little hearts.

How much of an inferiority complex do you have to have to pick on Indianapolis? Really because our city isn't as sprawling means that we can't field a championship? I call bull****. Your team is QBed by Rex Grossman, good luck, you'll need it.

Re: Chicago Sun: It'll be a shame to break their little hearts.

As someone who grew up in Chicago, lived in Indy for a short time, and now lives in Chicago again, I actually look forward to moving back to the Nap, and I'm someone who loves the nightlife as much as anyone.

Anyways, this Super Bowl is so magnified for me. If we win, it will be so great and magnificant obviously, but the fact that we beat the Bears and I'll have bragging rights over everyone I know will make it even sweeter.

If we lose, I'll be in hell. It will be extra devastating and terrible. I don't know how I'll make it.

Re: Chicago Sun: It'll be a shame to break their little hearts.

Let them talk smack, they know who the truely better team is. They had the EASIEST road to the superbowl and BARELY squeaked by a beaten up seahawks team. They need to boast their self-of-esteem some way.

Re: Chicago Sun: It'll be a shame to break their little hearts.

You know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos....Matt Moore CBS Sports....

Re: Chicago Sun: It'll be a shame to break their little hearts.

It really is weak. Does anyone else remember Mike Royko's columns back in the '80s when Mayor Hudnut rolled out the Indy promotional slogan: "Move Over New York, Apple is Our Middle Name."

Royko's words are still hovering in a cloud somewhere over Lake Michigan, but to paraphrase, he pretty much said, "Indianapolis sucks, so xxxk you! I don't wanna visit your attractions, I don't want to taste your shrimp cocktail, I don't wanna make jokes with your morning DJs, I don't wanna be good natured with your mayor: You suck and I hate you, Indianapolis, so go to hxxx!"

It was some big-time polemics, I assure you.

These Chicago writers are about as threatening, compared to Royko, as (dare I say it?) Rex Grossman is, compared to Jim McMahon.

(...leaving plenty of room to respect Ehrlacher and the Bears defense.)

And I won't be here to see the dayIt all dries up and blows awayI'd hang around just to seeBut they never had much use for meIn Levelland. (James McMurtry)

Re: Chicago Sun: It'll be a shame to break their little hearts.

Deflated
This morning, the city of Chicago is one depressed, hungover place.

Here’s to Steve Bartman
The collapse is complete. This city is going to be in a bad way tomorrow.

So am I disappointed? Am I disappointed that the Cubs were up three to one on the Marlins and lost? Am I disappointed that they were five outs from the World Series and blew it? Yes, I’m disappointed. But I have to be honest about this: I’m a dirty, fair-weather fan. I was just along for the ride.

My real disappointment has to do with the fans of Chicago. They are pathetic enough to blame this historic collapse on an innocent bystander: Steve Bartman.

He’s the fan who did what any guy sitting in the first row would do when he has a pop-up hit to him: he tried to catch it. He didn’t reach out to the field. He just looked up and tried to catch it. A fan in his position doesn’t have the time to make a calculation of whether the outfielder has a shot at jumping up and swiping the ball from the seats. So he went for the ball, and six other people around him went for the ball, and he’s the one who touched it. Then the Cubs lost. It went roughly like that.

Or so the idiot Cub fans would have you believe. In reality, the key turning point of the inning was the error by shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who botched one of the easiest ground balls you’ll ever see. His play was routine; Alou’s would have been notable. Gonzalez is a shortstop and he’s paid to field ground balls; Steve Bartman is a financial consultant and he’s sitting in the seats, hoping to catch a foul ball. Do the math. Who’s more to blame?

But it goes deeper than that. Many Cubs fans have been shamefully spiteful to Bartman. They threatened him. They spat at him. They threw things at him. You’d think these ******** were the same trailer trash that goes to Eagles games.

So with all that said, a small part of me is happy the Marlins won. It’s a little more collective pain to all those ******** who spewed hate at Steve Bartman. You fans are pathetic, and in all honesty, the Cubs are kinda pathetic too. I hope you feel the pain of this loss and feel it deep. You earned it. You brought it on yourselves. Hats off the Florida Marlins too, who were the invisible opponent in this series. I knew they would capitalize on the lack of respect afforded them, and that’s why I picked them to win the series after game 1 (just ask my dad .

So that’s that. Thursday, October 16, 2003 will be one of the most somber in Chicago history, I dare say. Here’s to Steve Bartman. At least he handled the situation with class. Stay strong, bud

You know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos....Matt Moore CBS Sports....

Re: Chicago Sun: It'll be a shame to break their little hearts.

I thought about reading Sam Smith in the print edition while I was on the plane this morning, then decided it just wasn't worth it...

= = = = = = = = = = =

As for Benner's retort, it was just about perfect. Except he ignored the one thing Chicago has that Indianapolis/ Indiana does not...

JOBS.

Thus, the biggest beneficiary of Indiana's brain-drain of undergraduate and especially masters/ MBA/ law-JD students is to the big city.

Indiana, Purdue, and Notre Dame Universities continue to provide a significant amount of the brain power that fuels Chicago's economy.

Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
And life itself, rushing over me
Life itself, the wind in black elms,
Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

Re: Chicago Sun: It'll be a shame to break their little hearts.

As for Benner's retort, it was just about perfect. Except he ignored the one thing Chicago has that Indianapolis/ Indiana does not...

JOBS.

Thus, the biggest beneficiary of Indiana's brain-drain of undergraduate and especially masters/ MBA/ law-JD students is to the big city.

Darn it! Don't generalize between Indianapolis and Indiana. Indiana has a brain drain problem -- Indianapolis doesn't. Indianapolis attracts brain power just as Chicago does. According to the Census Bureau's most recent CPS survey, metropolitan Indianapolis has a HIGHER rate of college attaiment than metropolitan Chicago. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Indianapolis was the only large midwestern city to exceed its growth projections since the 2001 recession.

Say Chicago has more jobs than Indianapolis. It is a bigger city, and should be expected to have more jobs.

Don't say Chicago has jobs and Indianapolis doesn't.

Go Colts.

And I won't be here to see the dayIt all dries up and blows awayI'd hang around just to seeBut they never had much use for meIn Levelland. (James McMurtry)